om 


F THE TELOOGOO MISSION. 


S. MCKENZIE, 
x ‘ ny Pane : Aen z <a 
istrict Secretary ofA BM. Union. * 


ISSIONARY UNION, TREMONT TEMPLE. 


at ‘2 ae, 
TIST M 


4 , THE LONE STAR. 


THE NATIONAL RELIGION.— The prevalent system of religion 
among the Teloogoos is Brahmanism, the tenets, ceremonies, 
and gross idolatries of which are well known to those familiar 
with missionary literature. The system of cas¢e is rigidly main- 
tained among them, as everywhere in Hindostan, and has 
always been a formidable obstruction to the progress of Chris- 
tianity in that land. That obstruction, however, is being grad- 
ually weakened, and is likely to be speedily overthrown by the 
improvements of a Christian civilization, thus paving the way’ 
for a more rapid spread of the Christian religion among the 
various tribes of Hindostan. 


BEGINNING OF THE Misston.—In the year 1805 a feeble 
effort was made to evangelize the Teloogoo people. The 
London Missionary Society sent out in that year a few mission- 
aries to labor among them. This enterprise was attended with 
little or no success, and was eventually relinquished. Rev. 
Amos Sutton, a missionary of the English General Baptists in 
Orissa, while on a visit to the United States, in the year 1835, 
urged the Baptists of this country to establish a mission among 
the Teloogoos. The proposal of Mr. Sutton received a favor- 
able response, and in September of that year Rev. Samuel S. 
Day, with his wife, and Rev. E. L. Abbott sailed from Boston 
to Calcutta, with instructions to open a mission. A large 
number of other missionaries, under the auspices of our Board 
of Foreign Missions, designated to the East, sailed with Messrs. 
Day and Abbott, accompanied by Rev. Howard Malcom. On 
the arrival of the company at Calcutta, in February, 1836, it 
was decided that Mr. Abbott should join the Karen Mission in 
British Burmah. Thither he went, leaving Mr. Day to open the 
Teloogoo Mission. Mr. Day immediately proceeded to Vizaga- 
patam, one of the principal cities of the Teloogoo country. But 
he did not long remain there. He deemed it to be more con- 
ducive to his work to establish his residence in one of the 
suburban villages of Madras. 

_ Four years passed away amid numerous difficulties of a very 
discouraging nature. A few Eurasians, Tamils, and English 
residents were baptized, but the Teloogoos were not inclined to 


+; : 
THE LONE STAR. 5 


embrace Christianity. Mr. Day began to think of Nellore as 
better suited to his work for the Teloogoos. That town is 
one hundred and ten miles north of the city of Madras, and is . 
situated in the midst of a large Teloogoo population. Thither 
he determined to go, and in February, 1840, he moved his 
family to Nellore. Here he rented a piece of land and erected 
a building adapted to mission purposes. Soon after his arrival 
at this new station he was permitted to welcome to his aid Rev. 
Stephen Van Husen and wife from the United States. In Sep- 
tember Rev. Mr. Day baptized his first convert from the Teloo- 
goo people. But the little church left alone at Madras, exposed, 
and without the oversight of a religious teacher and leader, 
very soon went down, “though another was soon after consti- 
tuted at Arcot, embracing some of the same members, together 
with several Tamil and Teloogoo people who were baptized at 
Arcot, and placed under the charge of an intelligent native 
assistant.” 

While our missionaries at Nellore encountered obstinate hin- 
drances to their work, in the prevalent and despotic system af 
caste, they had entire freedom in preaching at the street cor- 
- ners and on public festival occasions; also in establishing 
schools for the education of children from the families into 
which the missionary was not allowed to enter. In the high- 
ways many Teloogoos heard the gospel from the lips of the mis- 
sionaries ; and many parents, visiting the school in which they 
were more than willing to have their children taught, listened to 
the truth. The soil is under a silent preparation for “the seed of 
the kingdom.” ‘The sowing for a coming harvest is going on, 
despite contempt and opposition from the people. 

Another Teloogoo was baptized in the year 1843. More, 
schools at different points were established. But the main pur- 
pose of the missionaries was to preach the gospel, and to that pur- 
pose they persistently adhered. The population in and about 
Nellore gradually began to feel the power of gospel truths, and 
consequently to cherish secret doubts respecting the divinity 
of their idols. But the health of the overworked missionaries 
soon began to fail. Mr. Van Husen was obliged to return 


6 THE LONE STAR, 


home. He reached this country in October, 1845, “ the victim - 
of a distressing malady.” He never resumed mission-work in 
India, but died at Brattleboro’, Vt., in December, 1854, aged 
forty-two. In the same month and year in which Mr. Van 
Husen reached home, Rev. Mr. Day’s health was completely 
prostrated. He, too, was compelled to quit the mission. He 
arrived home in June, 1846. So sudden and severe was his ill- 
ness, that he was unable to make provision for the care of the 
mission work at Nellore. The mission property, the schools, 
and the little church of seven members, only two of whom were 
Teloogoo converts, were taken in charge by a Eurasian preacher, 
aided by two native Christians. 


A CriTIcAL JUNCTURE.— At home the question of abandon- 
ing the Teloogoo Mission is now seriously entertained. But 
Mr. Day, seconded by an appeal from Rev. Mr. Sutton, in the 
Orissa Mission, strenuously pleads for its continuance and re- 
enforcement. Accordingly it is ‘determined, for the present, 
at least, not to advise a dssolution of the mission.” ‘The breth- 
ren of the Executive will “ wait for future indications of Prov- 
-idence,” and leave events “ to decide the policy which should be 
pursued.” 

The annual meetings of the Missionary Union for 1848 are 
held in Troy, N.Y. Mr. Day’s health was measurably re-estab- 
lished. A new man, Rev. Lyman Jewett, was ready and anxious 
to accompany Mr. Day to the Teloogoo field. It was resolved 
by the Union, in its meetings at Troy, to reopen that mission by 
returning Mr. Day, and with him to send out Mr. Jewett and 
wife. The missionaries sailed on the roth of October, 1848, 
from Boston to Calcutta, en route for Nellore. Mrs. Day re- 
mained in this country with her children. 


ANOTHER CRISIS.— We pass over five years of struggles, and 
almost utterly fruitless efforts, in the Teloogoo Mission at Nel- 
lore, and come at once to another critical juncture in its history. 
In 1853 the anniversary meetings of the Union are being held 
in Albany, N.Y. A deputation to the Asiatic missions, consist- 
ing of Rev. Messrs. Peck and Granger, had spent twelve days, 
in the January previous, at Nellore. ‘They had reported to the 


THE LONE STAR. 7 


Executive Committee their observations and impressions relat- 
ing to that interesting but unfruitful mission, In that commu- 
nication the deputation expressed themselves satisfied with the 
value of the station at Nellore ; with the fidelity and ability of 
the missionaries ; and also. gave utterance to a strong convic 
tion that the mission should be speedily re-enforced or relin- 
quished. In the event of its being abandoned, they suggested 
that the missionaries there laboring be assigned to some other 
field. But the deputation hesitated to counsel the relinquish- 
ment of the Teloogoo field. They frankly confessed that their 
personal investigations brought out circumstances that seemed 
to them to weaken the claims of the mission. And what were 
the considerations urged in favor of relinquishment? They are 
briefly these: 1. Zhe want of success. 2. The want of suitable 
native helpers. 3. The care bestowed on the people by other Christian 
denominations. 4. The ability of the missicnaries to enter other 
jiclds. Such were the considerations, which, to the view of the 
excellent brethren composing the deputation seemed to weaken 
the claims of a mission among the vast heathen population of 
the Teloogoo country. 

As to “the care bestowed on the people by other Christian 
denominations,” we find that in and around Nellore, embracing 
a population of nearly two millions, the Free Church of Scot- 
land had, in 1853, one native preacher and one day school/ In the 
whole Teloogoo country, with its nearly eighteen millions of 
souls, there were ten missionary stations, with fifteen mission- 
aries from four different denominations. ‘‘ Zhe care bestowed”’ 
was, surely, very inadequate. As to the transfer of the mission- 
aries to the other and more productive mission-fields of the 
Union, there was not much to transfer; for Mr. Day must come 
home at once, leaving only Mr. Jewett to be sent across the Bay 
of Bengal into Burmah, or elsewhere in Farther India. 

The arguments urged by the deputation for a re-enforcement 
are, briefly: 1. Zhe extent of the field. 2. The knowledge already 
gained by the missionaries. 3. The prevailing policy of the mission. 
The “prevailing policy” referred to is the preaching of the gospel 
in the vernacular by Our missionaries. ‘To this service, the oral 


8 r THE LONE STAR - 


>» 


dispensation of the gospel, the missionaries have trained them- 
selves ; and in the chapel, at stations in and around Nellore, and 
at the great Hindoo festivals, thousands of ‘leloogoos have the 
gospel preached to them by our brethren.” Thus to preach was 
the one absorbing work of our missionaries among the Teloo- 
goos. ‘This is the fact presented by the deputation in the third 
argument for continuing and re-enforcing the mission. The 
main work of the missionaries of other denominations in Hin- 
dostan was in schools for the education of children. 

The deputation, having reported to the Executive Committee 
of the Union their views for and against the Teloogoo Mission, 
left the responsibility of action with the Committee. The Com- 
mittee appealed to the Board of Managers for some decisive 
action in the case. The Board of Managers cast the burden 
they were not willing to carry upon the denomination as repre- 
sented in the meetings at Albany, in 1853. 

A special committee was appointed on the question—Shal/ 
- the Teloogoo Mission be relinquished or re-enforced? ‘That Com- 
mittee in their report say, among other things: “In the pres- 
ence of this question, your Committee tremble. They feel that 
there are fearful responsibilities involved ; and yet, after a care- 
ful examination of the facts, they are unanimous in recom- 
mending a suitable re-enforcement of the mission, not an aban- 
donment. They are unable to see any good reason why we 
should turn our backs on that important and white harvest-field. 
We do not so understand the great commission. We are unable 
to find in it any clause for retreating soldiers, and venture to 
express the hope that the Board will never detain itself in seek- 
ing to find it.” Noble sentences!. How they ring with the 
courage of faith! 

The Special Committee continve as follows: “ We regard the 
work of missions, not as a work of expediency, but of faith, and 
of persevering labor. God has never permitted us in any of our 
missions to walk by sight. They have all had their days of 
darkness and trial. 

* Your Committee feel admonished, that if the perishing mill- 
ions of the Teloogoos were forsaken by us, on the ground of want 


THE LONE STAR. 9 


of success, we should be greatly in danger of grieving the Holy 
Spirit, and of bringing down upon our more prosperous missions 
dearth and barrenness. ‘The door is wide open, and we are in 
the field, and it is a vast and perishing field, and who will dare 
to retreat? ...If there is doubt as to men and means to carry 
this mission forward successfully with our other missions, the 
Committee would only suggest that the God of missions is a 
great God, and our times of necessity, in the whole history of 
missions, have been our times of salvation.” 

At an evening session of the Union, the great question of 
relinquishing or re-enforcing the Teloogoo Mission was under 
discussion. Eloquent pleas were delivered by some for re- 
enforcement. One of the speakers, pointing to Nellore on the 
map suspended over the platform, called it “THe Lone Star.” 
The words fell upon the ears of one present with peculiar force. 
That night, before sleeping, Dr. S. F. Smith, the author of “‘ My 
country, ‘tis of thee,” and of ‘‘Yes, my native land, I love 
thee,” put to paper the following stanzas, on 


LIE -LONE STAR.” 


Shine on, “ Lone Star”! Thy radiance bright 
Shall spread o’er all the eastern sky; 

Morn breaks apace from gloom and night: 
Shine on, and bless the pilgrim’s eye. 


Shine on, “ Lone Star’! I would not dim 
The light that gleams with dubious ray ; 
The lonely star of Bethlehem 
Led on a bright and glorious day. 


Shine on, “ Lone Star”! in grief and tears, 
And sad reverses oft baptized ; 
Shine on amid thy sister spheres : 
Lone stars in heaven are not despised. 


Shine on, “ Lone Star”! Who lifts his hand 
To dash to earth so bright a gem, 

A new “lost pleiad ” fr. m the band 
That sparkles in night’s diadem ? 


Shine on, “Lone Star”! The day draws near 
When none shall shine more fair than thou; 
Thou, born and nursed in doubt and fear 
Wilt glitter on Immanuel’s brow. 


10 _ THE LONE STAR. 


Shine on, ‘‘ Lone Star’! till earth redeemed, 
In dust shall bid its idols fall; 

And thousands, where thy radiance beamed, 
Shall “‘ crown the Saviour Lord of all.” 


The accomplishment of the prediction couched in the above 
impromptu stanzas will soon appear in the sequel of this sketch. 
Before the close of the meetings that year in Albany, the Union 
passed this resolution,—“that the Teloogoo Mission be con- 
tinued and suitably re-enforced, providing that, in the judgment 
of the Board of Managers, it can be done consistently with the 
claims of Southern Burmah.”’ 


WoRKING AND WaiTinGc.— Rev. Mr. Day relinquished a 
second time the mission field in 1853, and reached this country 
in September of that year. Rev. Mr. Jewett and family were 
now alone in the mission, attempting all that was possible to 
keep the arduous work moving on. Early in the year 1855, the 
solitary mission family at Nellore was aided and cheered by the 
arrival of Rev. F. A. Douglass and wife from the United States. 
Good work was_being done. Besides the preaching in and be- 
yond Nellore, tracts and Scriptures were distributed in all the 
numerous communities within a radius of twenty miles of the 
mission station. Even in villages as far north as Guntoor, a dis- 
tance of one hundred and forty-three miles from Nellore, a few © 
souls were converted and added to the little church. 

It was in the year 1853 that Mr. Jewett, with his wife and 
one of the native Christians, named Jacob, visited a town called 
Ongole, seventy-seven miles north from Nellore, and containing 
a population of about six thousand, all Teloogoos. In the 
public thoroughfares of Ongole, the missionary, reviled and 
stoned, preaches the gospel. The work of the day being done, 
seemingly in vain, the three, towards evening, ascend a hill 
overlooking the town, and there, singing a hymn, they prayed 
God to send a missionary to Ongole. 

The years rolled away, filled with labors incessant, and some- 
times discouraging almost beyond the endurance of the strongest 
faith, Now sickness, and now other adverse circumstances, 
arrest labor, and drive the laborers from the field. Mr. Jewett, 


THE LONE STAR. It 


in 1862, with his physical system almost hopelessly shattered, is 
compelled to relinquish his work and to return home. 


ABANDONMENT AGAIN DEMANDED.— The anniversary meet- 
ings of the Union are this year (1862) held in Providence, R.I. 
Again the question of abandoning the Teloogoo Mission is 
under debate. Indeed, its abandonment is urgently demanded, 
as the writer well remembers. “ Wait,” exclaimed Dr. Warren, 
“qwaztt, brethren; ye know not what ye are doing! Wait; let 
us hear what Brother Jewett, who is now on his journey home, 
has to say on this question.” ‘For the most part,” writes 
one, “Mr. Jewett had received from those for whom he was sac- 
rificing his life a dreary toleration, sometimes exchanged for 
open opposition ; and if he turned his wearied thoughts to 
America for rest, he too often found himself only tolerated 
there. Sometimes he found the Board discussing the abandon- 
ment of the mission ; sometimes apologizing to the public for its 
existence.” But Mr. Jewett never relaxed his confidence in the 
God of missions; and the ‘Lone Star” Mission was to Mr. 
Jewett precious beyond expression. With the vision of faith, 
he beheld a day breaking for the millions of that benighted and 
besotted people. 


COURAGE AND DETERMINATION.— On his arrival home, in 
1862, the relinquishment of the mission is proposed to him, and 
considerations urged in justification of such a step. But Mr. 
Jewett is immovable. He believes the Lord has “much 
people” among the Teloogoos, and that the Baptists of America 
should give them Christ’s gospel. He is confident that the 
prayers already sent up to heaven will yet be answered ; that 
the labors, the struggles, the sacrifices, and the money thus far 
laid upon the altar of God for the salvation of the Teloogoos 
are not squandered, but will in due season bring forth a rich 
harvest. The Union may abandon the field, but Ae will bear no 
part of the fearful responsibility involved in that abandonment. 
If encouragement and aid are refused him by the Union, then 
he will return alone, and spend his remaining strength and days 
among the Teloogoos. 

The courage, the faith, and the determination of Mr. Jewett 


I2 THE LONE STAR. 


were not to be treated lightly, and could not be overthrown or 
weakened by arguments based on a policy of expediency. In 
the presence of the Executive Committee of the Union, he 
declared, in most emphatic terms, his determination never fo 
abandon the Teloogoo Mission. ‘The Secretary, smiling, answered, 
“Well, brother, if you are resolved to return, we must send some- 
body with you to bury you. You certainly ought to have a 
Christian burial in that heathen land.” It is resolved to return 
Mr. Jewett, if health is re-established, to his field of labor. But 
‘he must carry a helper with him. That helper is raised up ; the 
Lord has been training a man to reap in a field already well 
tilled, and now nearly ready for the reapers. 


Licut BREAKING.— It is the year 1865. Twelve years before 
was held that remarkable prayer-meeting on a hill, now known 
as ‘“ Prayer-Meeting Hill,” overlooking Ongole. ‘Three believ- 
ing souls, at the close of day, ascended that hill, and looking 
down upon the idolatrous temples of the place, they felt a 
peculiar inclination to ask God for a missionary to be sent to 
Ongole. Dr. Jewett, now (1874) in this country, informs the 
writer, that in that prayer-meeting, composed of himself, Mrs. 
Jewett, and the native Christian Jacob, there was given to them 
a strong assurance of being heard in the special prayer then and 
there offered. The answer came after the lapse of twelve 
years. Mr. Clough, the “Missionary for Ongole,” arrives at - 
Nellore in company with Mr. Jewett. 

Mr. Clough lingers for awhile in Nellore, making prepara- 
tion to begin labor. He writes from Nellore, under date Nov. . 
6, 1865: “Yesterday was a happy day for the ‘Lone Star’ 
Mission. It was my privilege to baptizefour. Our little church, 
which has been struggling against adverse winds and tides for 
these many years, feels strengthened. God is sending us his 
elect, a great multitude of whom we expect to see here among 
the Teloogoos ere many years, who shall come out from hea- 
thenism.” Faith is again predicting. And why not? “The 
Lone Star Mission,” continues Mr. Clough, ‘‘ has stood here in 
the midst of darkness deeper than night for about twenty-five 
years ; yet few, very few, have ‘believed our report.’ We feel 


THE LONE STAR. 13 


that this cannot longer be endured ; that God has elect people 
here, and that they must come out from the reckless multitude. 
Iam no longer able to keep quiet, and daily I go with the cat- 
echists to the village near the mission-house, preaching. Brother 
Jewett preaches in the bazaar nights and mornings, and has a 
class in theology.” 

Early in the year 1866, Mr. Clough, the “missionary for 
Ongole,” makes his first visit to his designated station. Soon 
the mighty spirit of the Lord descends to bring out the elect 
from the multitudinous ranks of the heathen. On the first day 
of January, 1867, a church is organized in Ongole. It begins 
its existence with only eight souls. But the little one is speedily 
to become a thousand. It is now (1874) the largest Baptist 
church in the world, numbering about three thousand three 
hundred souls. 


-RE-ENFORCEMENTS.— The Teloogoo Mission is again re-en- 
forced in April, 1868, by the arrival of Rev. A. V. Timpany and 
wife, who left this country in October, 1867. Mr. Timpany, a 
native of the province of Nova Scotia, is a gift from the Bap- 
tists of Canada, and is supported in the work by funds contrib- 
uted to the Union by those brethren. Mr. Day, the pioneer in 
this field of missions, was also a native of Canada. Mr. Tim- 
pany on reaching his field, and seeing the Teloogoos flocking in 
crowds to receive the gospel, is filled with joyful amazement, 
and joins in the work with enthusiastic zeal. In his first com- 
munication to the Mission Rooms, he writes: “To-day you have 
the most successful mission in India. ‘Send us men and means, 
and by the help of our Master we will gather this people by the 
thousands. God’s spirit is resting upon Teloogoo as it brooded 
of old upon the deep.” A month later he writes: ‘ The work 
of God in the Teloogoo Mission goes on gloriously. God is 
giving and going to give us the Teloogoos just as fast as we can 
take care of them. God has an elect people here, and they 
must come. They are coming. The Nellore Mission is alive; 
sterling additions are being made.” 

The Annual Report of the Union for 1870 presents copious 
extracts from the letters of the Teloogoo missionaries. In 


14 THE LONE STAR. 


those extracts we find such sentences as these: “In the midst 
of harvest, ... men and women turned out by hundreds to hear 
about Jesus ; and not only to hear, but to believe also. Three 
hundred and twenty-four were baptized in one month (Decem- 
ber), and hundreds of others sent away until we should know 
them better.” Again: “The first week in January, 1869, we... 
spent in special prayer. We asked the great Head of the 
Church that he would send five hundred of his own elect to us 
the year then just commenced. If all we have baptized prove 
to be real Christians,...the number asked for came, and 
seventy-three more.” 

Another family, Rev. John McLaurin and wife, is added to 
the mission band on the Teloogoo field, having sailed from this 
country in December, 1869. Mr. McLaurin is likewise a gift to 
this mission from the Baptists in Canada, and also supported 
with funds provided by them. Early in November, 1870, the 
mission was again re-enforced by Rev. Edwin Bullard, son of a 
former missionary of the Union. At the beginning of the year 
1872, while yet surrounded with eager listeners, and numerous 
converts were waiting for baptism, the health of Rev. Mr. 
Clough broke down; and at the urgent solicitation of his asso- 
ciates he returned home for rest, with the hope of recuperating 
his exhausted system. He arrived in this country early in May, 
1872. He was charged by his brethren left behind to bring 
with him on his return four additional laborers, and to secure 
while in this country an endownient of fifty thousand dollars for 
a theological seminary for training a native Teloogoo ministry. 
Both of these objects were gained ; and Mr. Clough, leaving 
behind him his little daughter “‘ Nellore,” resumed his -mission 
among the Teloogoos, with recruited health and heart full of 
hope in his work. The first six years of Mr. Clough’s labors 
among the Teloogoos were one protracted Pentecost. During 
his absence from the field in pursuit of health, Rev. Mr. 
McLaurin had charge of the station at Ongole, and the work of 
the Lord went forward with unabated power, over seven hundred 
in one year having been added to the church by baptism. 


THE LONE STAR. 15 


Tuousanps Expect It.— Mr. Clough, having regained his 
health, returned in the autumn of 1873 to resume his labors in 
Ongole, where he arrived on the last day of January, 1874. He 
had now associated with him Rev. W. W. Campbell and wife. 
Mr. McLaurin, with the consent and heartiest good-will of the 
Executive Committee, dissolved his connection with the Mis- 

-sionary Union, and proceeded at once to Coconada, to open 
a mission among the Teloogoos of that country, under the 
auspices of the Canadian Baptists. Mr. Timpany subsequently 
joined him. In his report to the Union, up to the close of 1873, 
Mr. McLaurin says: ‘The year began with a burst of blessing 
in the North, which nearly surprised us, used as we are to great 
things from-the Lord. During the first tour, in less than a 
month, two hundred and seventy-seven persons were baptized. 
From that time the work progressed steadily....JI have no 
doubt that we shall see some mighty religious revolution in 
India before we die. Thousands of people expect it. Brah- 
mins, Mohammedans, and people of all castes, have repeatedly 
told me and the preachers, ‘Your religion is the om/y true relig- 
ion.’ ‘We know it must prevail.’ ‘We all must come, too, 
some day.’ I have known high native officials use it as an argu- 
ment with village officials, why they should not molest the 
Christians, saying, ‘We, too, must become Christians soon.’ I 
believe we can breathe the atmosphere of the change.” At this 
station the total membership of the church was now two thou- 

~sand seven hundred and sixty-cne. 


Dr. JEWETT AND BisLtE Reviston.— Mr. Downie and _ his 
wife reached Nellore in December, 1873, and relieved Dr. 
Jewett, who immediately joined the other members of the 
Teloogoo Bible Revision Committee at Rajahmundy. On quit- 
ting Nellore, Dr. Jewett wrote to the Mission Rooms as follows: 
“The broad and needy fields I was leaving never looked more 
attractive. I did not leave them without an inward struggle ; 
but in that struggle there was no doubt as to the path of duty, 
The Teloogoo people must have the Bible in as perfect a trans- 
lation as can be made at the present day.” In the spring of 
1874, Dr. Jewett, with shattered health, was obliged to seek 


16 THE LONE STAR. 


respite in this country from. the wearying service in which he 
had so long and so heroically toiled. The Lord had signally 
honored the faithful and persistent labors of this veteran mis- 
sionary, while by his brethren in America he was greatly revered 
for his indomitable courage in clinging to the once seemingly 
hopeless and widely discredited “‘ Lone Star ’’ Mission. 


EXPECTATIONS REALIZED.— At Ramapatam, Mr. Timpany, 
with waning health, was carrying the heavy burden of mission 
work, teaching in the seminary, travelling, preaching, baptizing, 
organizing work, and overseeing the native laborers. He says 
in his annual report, “ The expectations to which I gave expres- 
sion a year ago respecting the eastern portion of this field have 
been quite realized. A large number have been baptized, and 
quite a number of villages have come under our influence. In 
looking over the field, it seems white to the harvest. In every 
village where the gospel is persistently preached, souls come to 

_the Saviour.” The whole number baptized by Mr. Timpany 
during the year was two hundred and forty-seven ; and the mem- _ 
bership was six hundred and seventy-five. Rev. R. R. Will- 
iams, who went out with Mr. Clough on his return to India, 
took charge of the Theological Seminary at Ramapatam, 
assisted by Miss Peabody. At Alloor, Rev. Mr. Bullard was 
laboring under great disadvantages, but not without success. 


READY FOR ReEapers.— The Secretary of the Missionary 
Union, in the annual report of the foreign department, pre- 
sented at the anniversary in the spring of 1875, remarks: “The 
progress of the wonderful work among the Teloogoos has not 
been as marked and visible during the year 1874 as in some of 
the preceding years ; but it has still been gratifying beyond the 
ordinary fruits of missionary labor.” The mission had been 
again re-enforced during the year by the arrival of Rev. D. H. 
Drake and Miss M. A. Wood. Although the missionaries 
encountered many discouragements in every part of the Teloo- 
goo field, they cherished bright anticipations of success in due 
time. Mr. Downie writes: ‘This Nellore field is a grand one, 
and is white and ready for the reapers. For nearly thirty years 
the seed has been sown broadcast. Such faithful work as this 


THE LONE STRR. 17 


field has received must sooner or later yield an abundant har- 
vest.” 

Recions Beyonp.— Mr. Clough and Mr. Campbell were 
‘pushing out into the regions beyond. They went as far as 
Hyderabad, a large city two hundred and ten miles northwest 
from Ongole, and connected by railroad with Bombay and 
Madras, three hundred and ninety-seven miles from the former, 
and four hundred and ninety-two from the latter. The locality 
is thus described by Mr. Clough: “ Hyderabad, Secunderabad, 
and Golconda bear the same relation to each other as New York 
City, Brooklyn, and Jersey City do, and contain over two hun- 
dred thousand people. Itis at present by far the largest and 
most important city in the Teloogoo country. The city itself is 
now largely Mohammedan in religion ; but the country is Teloo- 
goo, and of the Brahminical faith, as here.” 


BoLp PReEpIcTIoNs.— Mr. Clough, though he has no very 
cheering report of success to give for 1874, sees in the near 
future a victory for Christ and his gospel among the Teloogoos. 
He writes: “TI fully believe that the prospect ahead was never so 
bright and encouraging. It will be a glorious thing, for which 
we should be thankful, if we can old our own while the thirty- 
eight students at Ramapatam, and the one hundred and forty at 
Ongole, are preparing for the harvest.” And Mr. Timpany has 
the same bright outlook, as indicated in these words: ‘I hardly 
dare express what I feel sometimes ; and yet why should we not 
look for it ?— the time when they shall move like a flood, sweep-_ 
ing all before them. One thing is certain: the time is coming, 
must come, when they all will leave their idols, and at least all 
be nominal Christians, and many more than that,—true disci- 
ples of the Lord Jesus.” And so the letters of all the laborers 
abound with the boldest predictions regarding a great success in 
the Teloogoo Mission at no distant day. 

THE YEAR 1875.— The mission is again re-enforced by the 
arrival of Rev. A. Loughridge and wife; also Rev. A. A. New- 
hall. The Nellore station was visited by a disastrous flood, and 
the cholera raged fearfully for two months, sweeping away hun- 
dreds of the natives. Mr. Clough, in company with Mr. Drake, 


18 - “THE LONE STAR. 


spent three months preaching in the jungle villages, going as far 
as Kurnool, one hundred and eighty miles westerly from Ongole. 
At a town never before visited by a missionary, one hundred 
and forty miles from Ongole, Mr. Clough baptized twenty-six 
converts, who were organized into a branch church. Deacons 
were chosen, and a pastor settled. Mr. Clough was assured by 
the Christians of this town that if he would remain a week 
longer, one hundred converts more, from various villages, would 
be ready to offer themselves for baptism. The baptisms for the 
year, at the Ongole station, were one hundred and eighty-one, 
and the membership of the church was two thousand eight hun- 
dred and twenty-five. The baptisms at Ramapatam were forty- 
eight, and the church had a membership of seven hundred and 
sixty-four. At Nellore, the baptisms were sixteen, and the 
church numbered one hundred and eighty-eight. A new and 
most important mission centre was established in the city of 
Secunderabad, and occupied by Mr. Campbell and his wife, with 
two native preachers, one teacher, and one colporteur, from 
Ongole. A church was organized in Secunderabad, starting 
with fourteen members, and the little company was _ being 
increased. The missionary at Secunderabad, with his native 
helpers, was entering villages and publishing the glad tidings 
where no Christian missionary had ever been. For 1875, the 
Teloogoo Mission reported fifty-three native preachers, five 
churches, two hundred and forty-six baptisms, three thousand 
eight hundred and thirty-seven members. : 


THE YEAR 1876.— Mr. Timpany returned to America, and in 
October of this year severed his connection with the Union, 
with a view to joining the Canadian mission in Coconada. Miss 
Mary M. Day, the daughter of Rev. Samuel S. Day, the founder 
of the Teloogoo Mission, was appointed to service among the 
Teloogoos. On the field, the laborers were struggling with great 
obstacles, but still achieving some gratifying successes. ‘The 
stations of Nellore and Alloor were united. For lack of means, 
the missionaries were obliged to leave inviting fields untilled 
and unvisited. -The cholera was prevalent. At the close of 
this year, the famine began, which through the year 1877 


THE LONE STAR. 19 


spread throughout the whole of the Madras Presidency. Mr. 
Clough was making strenuous efforts to prepare for this calam- 
ity. He writes: “God only can see the end; but we intend to 
fight on and pray on as long as there is anything left of us, and 
the result will honor Jesus. I fully believe that when the 
famine is over, if not before, there will be such a turning to- 
Jesus, such a casting-away of idols and Brahminism, as India 
has never before seen.” Mr. Clough had baptized in this year 
six hundred and fifty-six, and the membership of the church 
was three thousand four hundred and seven. Mr. Loughridge 
was busily employed in getting up the projected institution for 
an advanced course of education. ‘The year was a very trying 
one at Ramapatam, but Mr. Newhall struggled heroically to 
meet the emergencies of his position. Mrs. Williams, the wife 
of Mr. Williams, in charge of the Theological School, suddenly 
died ‘‘in the full flush of life and hope.” Mr. and Mrs. Camp- 
bell were getting their mission work well organized at Secun- 
derabad. Mr. Drake began work at Kurnool in August of this 
year. After reaching the field, he expressed the belief that 
God had a great blessing in store for the people of Kurnool. 
He writes: ‘We should not entertain a doubt in regard to 
the success of the work. JI have not come here to experiment. 
I feel that the Lord has brought me here to do a work for him, 
and I want to be found in my place. The new station gives 
promise of much good.” Before the close of the year, he bap- 
tized twenty-two converts. Many others professed faith in 
Christ, but Mr. Drake kept them waiting until he could test 
the genuineness of their professions. The whole number of 
baptisms among the Teloogoos in 1876 was seven hundred and 
twenty-four; and the total membership of the churches at the 
close of the year was four thousand three hundred and _ ninety- 
four. 


THE YEAR 1877.— The annual report of work in the Telco- 
goo field, presented at the anniversary meetings in 1878, opens 
with the following record: “‘The changes in the mission are 
comprised in the lamented death of Mrs. Newhall, the depart- 
ure of Mr. Bullard on account of poor health, the return of 


20 THE LONE STAR. 


Dr. and Mrs. Jewett, and the accession of Miss Day to the 
ranks of the laborers. The effects of the famine are clearly 
traced in the large death-record and the comparatively small 
number of baptisms.” Mr. Downie writes: “The new year 
dawned upon us amid sickness and death. Cholera was still 
raging. ‘The famine is, of course, the great event of the year.” 
Mr. Clough’s annual report for this year gives a copious de- 
scription of the state of the people and of the mission during 
the terrible famine year. Only a few sentences of that report 
can be quoted here. He says: ‘From February ist until 
about August 1st, all my time and energies were employed on 
the Buckingham Canal. I believe it was God’s plan of saving 
hundreds, if not thousands, of Christians and their relatives and 
friends from hunger, disease, and death. During the year 
under review, although continually amid horrible, sickening 
scenes, we feel that as missionaries, and as a mission, we have 
enjoyed the special smile of Heaven upon us continually. It is 
true that only one hundred and ten have been baptized ; but it 
should be remembered that since about the r5th of March we 
have not baptized any, though hundreds, yes, thousands, have 
clamored for the ordinance ; but we have not had the time or 
strength, even if it had been desirable, to conduct the necessary 
examination of the candidates. At our bi-monthly meeting the 
Sunday before Christmas, over fifteen hundred from near and 
afar requested baptism. ‘The greater part of this multitude are, - 
no doubt, believers in Jesus as the only Saviour. We expect 
glorious things in due time.” 

Mr. Newhall writes from Ramapatam: “For many months 
past, applications have been made from time to time for bap- 
tism ; but’ I have thought it wise to put off all such until the 
work of distributing relief was over. About December rst, 
however, I concluded to keep them waiting no longer, and 
allowed some candidates to come before the church. I speak 
within bounds when I say there are hundreds waiting for bap- 
tism. The Spirit seems to have fallen upon us in answer to 
prayer. The lessons of the famine have evidently not been 
entirely lost upon the degraded sufferers,” 


THE LONE STAR. 21 


-Mr. Williams, at Ramapatam, in his annual report for the 
same year, makes the following statements, so literally fulfilled 
by recent events: “ We look,” writes Mr. Williams, “ for great 
ingatherings into our churches soon, such as have not been 
known in the history of modern missions. If I am not utterly 
mistaken, God, by his spirit, is moving on the hearts of thou- 
sands and thousands of these Teloogoo people. The students 
are out from Saturday morning until Sunday evening every week. 
They preach, give medicine and a little money to the very help- 
less. They tell me that whole villages are ready to become 
Christian. I believe that God is about to fulfil his promise to 
the Son regarding this people. It looks as though a nation is 
to be born in a day. We, if wise, will get ready to receive 
_ them.” ‘The whole number of baptisms among the Teloogoos 
for this year was_two hundred and ninety-eight, and the total 
membership was four thousand five hundred and twenty-two. 
During this terrible famine nearly four hundred Teloogoo Chris- 
tians died. 

THE GREATEST Harvest.— The reader will have observed the 
bright anticipations and confident predictions expressed by the 
missionaries relative to the near approach of a great religious 
movement among the Teloogoos. But they felt the necessity of 
exercising the greatest caution in giving encouragement to those 
who professed to be converted and requested baptism On the 
16th of June, 1878, Mr. Clough opened once more the doors of 
the church for the admission of members. On the 24th he 
writes that he had begun to baptize converts, and in the letter 
says: “‘ Before this reaches you, there will be five hundred bap- 
tized Christians, probably, within four miles of where I how 
write,— residents of Ongole and suburbs. If rain comes soon, 
and a harvest is given, as we hope, there will be three thousand 
baptisms in this mission (Ongole) within the next six months. 
The converts are zow waiting for the-ordinance. This means 
an addition to our Teloogoo Mission of not less than fifteen 
thousand souls. Perhaps twenty thousand would be nearer 
correct.” A few days after the above was written, Mr. Clough 
wrote the following: “In my letter of the 24th, I mentioned 


22 THE LONE STAR. 
° 


that we had again commenced baptizing believers in the Lord 
Jesus as ¢hezr Saviour, and the Saviour of the whole world. 
Since then the work has gone on widening and deepening; and 
now, as I write these lines, it seems to me that the blessed 
gospel which we try to preach is going to sweep everything 
before it.” On the 7th of July, he reports that he and his native 
helpers had baptized five thousand four hundred and twenty- 
nine since June 16th. 


PRESSING INTO THE KinGpoM.—On the 31st of July, Mr. 
Williams, who went to Ongole on the 12th of that month to 
aid Mr. Clough, writes as follows: “Brother Clough and his 
helpers were literally crowded upon by the people who were 
pressing into the kingdom of God. I saw what few mission- 
aries; have seen. More than a thousand people from one of 
the Ongole Pallums came into the compound, and gave up 
their idols. Great as this ingathering is, it is not beyond my 
anticipations. When we think how many earnest men are at 
work on the field, who go day after day telling the simple story 
of the cross, and pleading with their fellow-men to turn unto 
God, and remember what God has promised, who could look 
for less?” On the 5th of August, Mr. Clough, after referring 
to the help he had received from Mr. Williams, says: “I 
cannot write in detail. God was with us, and glorified himself. 
A multitude were baptized,—three thousand two hundred and 
sixty-two in all. These make, with those already reported, 
eight thousand six hundred and ninety-one baptized from June 
16th to July 31st, inclusive. Zo God be all the praise now and 
through all eternity! Unless I err greatly, if my life and health 
and my native preachers are spared, before Jan. 1, 1879, five 
thousand more will be baptized by us; and then, D.V., the work 
will go on and on, until the little flame kindled here becomes a 
mighty fire, sweeping everything before it.” a 

THOUSANDS AWAIT BaptisM.—On the 17th September, Mr. 
Clough again wrote: ‘‘The total number baptized up to date, 
since June 15th, is nine thousand one hundred and forty-seven. 
Is this too large a blessing? Is it not what you have been 
praying for? Are the converts unacceptable because so many? 


THE LONE STAR, 23 


Are we not after a// the Teloogoos? We—nmy native preachers 
and myself—believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in preach- 
‘ing the gospel. We baptize those only whom we have reason 
to believe he has regenerated. How can we do otherwise? 
Thousands of converts now await baptism. We must advance 
all along the line, and keep the old camp-fires burning also.” 


THEN AND Now.—In that same letter, Mr. Clough says: 
“Twelve years ago this morning we arrived in Ongole. The 
outlook was then dreary enough. Twelve years of hard work, 
of joys and sorrows, have passed. We look around us, we 
think of the past, and can but exclaim: ‘What hath God 
wrought!’ We can now see that God intends to do great 
things for the Teloogoos. Past blessings are but an earnest of 
greater ones just before us, if we are faithful over the few things 
already given. I rejoice with trembling, not because I doubt, 
the goodness of God and his promises,— but are the American 
Baptists going to stand by me? or are they going to hear of 
the great revival among the Teloogoos, rejoice for a day, then 
forget us nearly, and leave the great multitude just out of 
heathenism upon me? When at home in 1872-73, I often said: 
The Teloogoos are going to come to Jesus just as fast as the 
Teloogoo missionaries and the American Baptists are ready and 
prepared to teach the converts the ‘all things whatsoever I 
have commanded.’” 


Is 1r GENUINE?—- That question many are asking concern- 
ing this religious awakening among the Teloogoos. Rev. John 
McLaurin, in Coconada, where the Canadian Baptists have a 
promising mission among the Teloogoos, sends to the Canadian 
Baptist (Nov, 21, 1878) a letter, dated Sept. 24, 1878, from 
which the following is selected: “ Do'I believe in the genuine- 
ness of this revival? Ido believe in it heartily, joyously, and 
hopefully, for these reasons: 1st. I believe in the power of the 
gospel to effect such a work as this, 2nd, I believe the Teloo- 
- goos are a prepared people, made ready by the Spirit for such 
a movement, 3rd, I know each square mile of the field em- 
braced, thoroughly, by personal contact. 4th. I know each 
preacher, teacher, and colporteur intimately. I know his spirit, 


24 THE LONE STAR. 


motives, and modes of work. 5th. There is not a village on 
the whole field in which the gospel has not been faithfully 
preached many times a year, for the last half dozen years or 
more. 6th. In this way, the whole field has been saturated 
with the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the way of salvation» 
The people have heard all this for years with indifference, 
though in one sense believing it all the while. The famine 
came, and death stared them in the face. They were stirred 
out of their indifference, were made to think, and had Christi- 
anity presented to them in one of its most blessed aspects. 
The Holy Spirit worked by these means on the people, and we 
have the result before us. 


The remarkable revival on the Ongole field has continued 
to the present time, and the number of converts among the 
Telugus now equals those in Burma. ‘The Lone Star,” so 
long an almost hopeless field, is now accepted as one of the 
wonders of the modern missionary enterprise. The converts 
have remained remarkably steadfast, and are growing in edu- 
cation, intelligence, and self-dependence. The Ongole field, 
which witnessed such wonderful displays of divine grace, has 
been divided into five, each with its central station and mis- 
sionary family. Other new stations have also been established, 
and the work is rapidly extending. Dec. 31, 1884, there were 
in the Telugu Mission, 12 stations, 204 out-stations, 40 mis- 
sionaries, 154 native preachers, 38 Bible-women, and 323 other 
native helpers, 42 churches, with 26,396 members; 1,556 were 
baptized in 1884. There were also 300 schools with 341 
teachers, and 4,898 pupils. 


